The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Legion of Merit to Captain Dean L. Knuth, United States Naval Reserve, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States as Commander, U.S. Naval Coastal Warfare (NCW), Group TWO, Portsmouth, Virginia, from October 1995 to September 1998. During this period of great challenge and change, Captain Knuth displayed distinguished qualities of strong leadership, great foresight, and naval professionalism as Group TWO went through profound changes that included acquiring commissioned status and merger with two other Echelon IV commands. He was instrumental in generating outreach to components of important allied warfare communities to build essential working relationships and presided over pioneering “core competencies” programs for the five east coast Harbor Defense Command Units, including the development of the first NCW University for training of the group’s units on newly-acquired technology. During this period, Group TWO’s units demonstrated a successful field employment of MAST technology and achieved a distinguished track record of other successful overseas performances. Captain Knuth’s distinguished professional leadership was essential to the remarkable performance of NCW Group TWO which successfully received and assimilated the first deliveries of MAST II plus systems, and progressed from its infancy to the point of being a highly capable contributor to the national defense only four years after having been first established. Captain Knuth’s professional ability, diligence, and total devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.